Ginger Lives!
by The Threat
Summary: Title says... most of it. It is in fact a sequel to an earlier story of mine, 'Ginger Snaps Unlimited'
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: "Ginger Snaps" is owned by LionsGate Films

* * *

When she was first seen again by her mother, the latter was shocked at the sight of her, lying on the floor, dead, stabbed in the belly, and somehow deformed. Despite of what the other daughter said, there was no way that the thing she saw could be the daughter she remembered to have given birth to, whom she raised,... it couldn't be. But despite of what, or who she saw, one way or another, it was still her daughter. Someone of whom the mother believed she deserved a decent burial.

It took some great effort to find the right coffin, fit for her daughter's new size. Filing a death certificate was just as difficult, as the body in question couldn't be examined, for reasons that couldn't be explained. In the end, the daughter got the burial she deserved. In the mind of the mother, this daughter had some problems, of which she never spoke to anyone, including her own mother. With her dead now, she hoped that her daughter had found rest. Nothing could be much further from the truth...

The daughter, left in the coffin, that was buried six feet under ground, had only been stabbed in her belly. Though it gave her some pain, perhaps even caused her to lose some blood, it merely caused her to faint. It wouldn't be the first time that somebody survived such a wound, so why would this someone, who was somehow special, be any different? Even though her pulse was checked, this too wouldn't be the first time that someone felt dead, but turned out to be alive still. In her case, it was a combination of factors that got her so tired, it would make her look like she was dead. But once she rested, allowing nature to do it's job to heal her wound, for as much as possible, she woke up. The first thing she noticed was that she was indeed in a box. Anyone else would have immediately recognized the box as a coffin, but something about her kept her from thinking anything, apart from the idea of getting out of here. She tried shaking the box, but that didn't quite work out as she had hoped. Instinctively, she realized that kicking the sides wouldn't help, so the only logical way out was upwards. She used however little strength she had to get out. Despite her still weakened state, there's one memory in her head that kept her from giving up. She remembers seeing her sister, holding two things in her hands. One was a syringe, of which she promised it would help her, the other was a knife. If this sister truly wanted to help, she wouldn't have that knife in her hand, nor would she, at the last second decide to use that rather than the syringe. It was that thought alone that kept her angry, and it was that anger that kept her going. Eventually, she managed to make some kind of hole in the coffin, allowing some of it's dirt to drop onto her. It surprised her at first, but she didn't care. Somehow, she managed to dig a way out, escaping what she only then realized to be her own grave. Instinctively, again, she knew that if she left her grave like this, she knew that people will know she got out, so she filled up the hole she just created, after which she ran into the woods.

For the years to come, she managed to survive on whatever animal she could find in the forests, no matter how scarce. In those years she hoped she could find her sister, but her smell had gone away too long ago. It was as though she left as soon as she was buried. Was she afraid that her sister somehow survived and would chase her? It was a thought that kept her relatively sane through the years. Sane, in the sense that she wouldn't even start to think of killing anyone, or their pets, so to not draw attention herself. Still, to such times of piece will always come an end. As she had never seen her sister, she was almost convinced that she was gone forever, so she would never get back to her. That's when, completely unexpected, she thought she may have found a lead.

A smell just came to her. Given some of her especially enhanced senses, from staying in the woods for so long, it wasn't unusual for her to smell anything, but this one smell had something familiar. It was something she hasn't smelled in a very long time. Much longer than the time that she presumably died. Whatever the smell was, it came from the graveyard. The same one where she was supposed to be buried. She ran as fast as she could, back to the one place she had managed to avoid for so long.

Arriving there, she saw someone. It was a guy, of the same age she is, whom she didn't remember to have seen before. Unless... that's when she remembered. She remembered to have known a young boy when she was a child. That boy would have grown up by now, just as she did. That must be why the smell was so familiar, as she knew him, but had nearly forgotten about him. But this particular guy had disappeared from her so long ago. What brings him here so suddenly? When she noticed him kneeling down at her grave, she figured what it was that brought him here. It was her. But since she hasn't heard from him in a long time, chances are he hasn't heard from her either. So how could he possibly know she's dead? What brought him here? Or rather, who did? Could he know where to find her sister? Something she overheard him saying answered that question. She wasn't exactly sure why, but it appeared as though he was talking to some invisible presence. Though she never understood why people talked to graves, believing as they do that the dead can actually hear them, it wouldn't surprise her if that's exactly what that guy did. Still, hearing him speak, it sounded more like he was actually conversing with someone, as he replied to some question she didn't hear anybody ask. But hearing him talk, she only heard him mention the names "Pamela" and "Brigitte". Respectively, those were the names of her mother and her sister. Conclusion, he's indeed looking for Brigitte. This, she decided to use to her advantage. She stalked him for a while, but since he appeared to live some distance away from them, he needed some form of public transport to get away, so she soon lost track of him. From this point on, she decided not to hide herself anymore. After so many years, she decided to visit her mother, hopeful that she would get all the information she needed from her. With whatever info she may provide, however little it may or may not be, she will find this guy, and subsequently find her sister. Nothing will stop her to have her revenge...


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: apart from all "Ginger Snaps" related characters, all characters used in this story are mine.

* * *

Vancouver, a few years later.

A young man, somewhere in his twenties and close to graduating from college. He sat somewhere in the college's mess-hall, finishing his lunch. However, he appeared too tired to do anything at all, which included bringing his lunch close enough to his mouth to eat. He put down what he was eating, leaned on his left arm, opened his mouth wide to yawn, after which he rubbed his eyes. At that moment, somebody came to sit in front of him.

"Hey, Stan. You awake?" he said.

The young man, Stan, looked in front of him to see who spoke. It was another student like him. He asked: "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" he sounded disappointed, "I'm your friend and I want to talk. You don't even say hello anymore."

Stan sighed: "Look, Frost, I'm really not in the mood to..."

"Oh come on!" he, Frost, interrupted, "How long do we know each other, and you still don't call me by my first name?"

"I thought you came to talk, not argue." Stan said, flatly.

"Oh... right..." Frost appeared to forget what they just talked about, then showed Stan a picture, "Look at this."

Stan took the picture in his hands, saw a little baby on it. His face doesn't show much impression, but instead got him to give the picture back and say: "So this is what Joss looks like."

As he gave the it back, Frost looked puzzled: "How did you know his name?"

"With you never shutting up about it, how could I have missed that?" Stan questioned, with a cynical tone.

"But I never told you!?" Frost reminded him.

That's when Stan looked a little surprised: "Oh... right... you didn't..."

"Stan, what's going on?" Frost asked, "Ever since you introduced us all to that..."

At that moment, Stan rose from his seat, grabbed Frost by his shirt,... but stopped there. He shook his head then let him go.

"Er... what... what just happened?" Frost wondered.

Stan didn't listen, nor did he reply. He packed his lunch back and ran off.

Just outside the hall, he froze again. He leaned against the nearest wall he could find. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, hoping to calm himself down a little. He was so tired earlier, then somehow found the energy to do what he just did. Not knowing what else to do, he ran to the bathroom, only to splash some water on his face. Again rubbing his eyes, he looked in the mirror in front of him. What he saw then spooked him. He saw a girl looking trough one of the bathroom's little windows. A girl with bewildered, brownish hair and a scarred face. Seeing her, he then turned around to see. When he did, he saw some other guy in the bathroom with him. He hadn't seen him in the mirror, nor did he for some reason even appear to notice his presence.

"You alright?" this particular guy said.

Trying to get a grip on himself, Stan shook his head and looked outside. The girl he saw was gone now, which got him to think he must have been imagining things.

"You need some help?" the other guy kept asking.

Stan didn't think he needed to explain himself to this guy, especially since he doesn't know him, so he turned away from him and left.

"Hey! I asked you something!" the guy kept shouting after him, but Stan didn't hear him, or rather didn't care. He looked at his watch, then made his decision. He left the building.

This guy in the bathroom, however, was still puzzled. He tried to help this one guy, but he didn't even want to listen. As he was washing his hands, he mumbled his displeasure about this to himself: "What an ungrateful guy. I tried to help him but he ignored me. How rude! He must be the rudest guy I've ever met."

He then turned away to go dry his hands: "He'd better not come crying to me when..."

That's when he got interrupted. Somebody pushed him away and up against the wall. The guy tried to pull himself together, but that's when whatever pushed him grabbed him by the throat. Who or whatever was doing this, it had the appearance of a person, but growled as though it was something else. The guy wanted to scream for help, but "it" shut him up with it's other hand, after which it released his throat and ripped his chest open.


	3. Chapter 3

Stan returned to his room, the one place in the world where he has always felt safe. The minute he arrived, he put down his back-pack and layed himself down on his couch.

"Something wrong?" a voice said.

Stan looked up, only to see his girl friend in the door, which led to the bathroom. She was about his age, had long black hair, and a somewhat dark appearance about her. He wasn't in any mood to talk, but he appeared happy to see her here.

"I don't know." Stan replied, as he sat up straight on the couch, "I'm supposed to become a someone who helps people with their problems, yet I can't seem to help myself much. And everyone who offers, I tear them down."

"I suppose that's why other psychiatrists became psychiatrists." the girl replied.

"Oh yes, that's really helping, Brigitte." Stan replied sarcastically.

The girl, Brigitte sat down on a nearby arm-chair, and said: "Ever considered this may not be for you after all?"

Stan sighed: "I don't know. This seemed the right thing to do, especially given what I've been through, but now... I don't know."

"How different would our lives not be if you didn't leave Bailee Downs." Brigitte then started.

"I suppose, for one, I'd be known as some the boy who spends time with girls." Stan replied, cynically, "And you wouldn't be..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but seeing as how down this brought Brigitte, he had no intention of doing it either.

Suddenly, he got a call, at which Stan sighed again: "They wouldn't give people any well-deserved rest now, will they?"

He answered the phone, at which point he recognized Frost's panicked voice: "Stan! Where are you?"

"Home." Stan replied flatly, "Is this important? I haven't slept much the past few days, so I'd rather..."

"How long have you been there?" Frost asked.

Stan had enough of this: "Frost, what's this about?"

"You'd better come here and see this." Frost suggested.

Annoyed, Stan asked: "Can't it wait unt..."

"This Stan Harett?" somebody else's voice suddenly spoke, who sounded a little more serious.

Surprised at this sudden change of voice, Stan asked: "And you are...?"

"This is detective Perkins." the man replied.

"Detective?" Stan sounded even more surprised, "What's this about?"

"Come back to campus and I'll tell you." the man, Perkins, replied, "If you don't come, I'll be forced to arr..."

"Alright, I'll be there." Stan replied, after which he disconnected the phone and turned to Brigitte, "Now what's this about?"

"Only one way to find out." Brigitte sighed, as she seemed to share his annoyance with this.

On their way, Brigitte still tried to talk to Stan: "So, what makes you so tired these days?"

"College, studies, keeping up with my assignments,..." Stan rattled on.

"You sure?" Brigitte asked.

Stan looked at her, felt another tired rush, which gave him some difficulty to answer at first, but he did eventually: "I'm not sure."

At that point, Brigitte seemed to smell something: "Is that blood I smell?"

"Blood?" Stan questioned, at which point he understood some part of what was going on, which helped him decide to pick up the pace a little more, so to arrive at campus as soon as possible.

Once he arrived, he saw an ambulance, along with paramedics taking away a dead body. A man wearing a long trench-coat stopped them for a moment. Stan could only assume that this man was the one he spoke to over the phone, but only got confirmation once he spotted Frost walking up to him and pointing out Stan. Realizing there's not much he can do now, he was about to walk towards the man, but Brigitte stopped him.

"I don't think this is such a good idea." she suggested.

Stan disagreed: "If I don't,... well, I don't know what would happen." Stan replied.

He got to the man, who then asked for confirmation: "You Harett?"

Stan nodded: "You must be the detective."

"Do you recognize this man?" the man, Perkins, asked, as he lifted the sheet from the dead body.

After a somewhat shocked look, Stan shook his head: "No. I er... I did have a run-in with him earlier, but I..."

He then couldn't surpress a yawn, at which Perkins said: "Sleep deprivation?"

"Will you please just cut to the chase, detective?" Stan nearly begged.

Perkins raised an eyebrow, after which he reminded him: "I'm the one asking the questions here."

Stan could hardly keep his head up: "Can't it wait? I..."

Another yawn kept him from finishing his sentence, at which point Frost intervened: "Now, you see for yourself, I think he just went home to rest, not because he just..."

"Alright, you got me convinced." Perkins interrupted.

"Because I just what?" Stan asked.

"He thought you killed him." Frost replied, before Perkins could tell him he shouldn't.

"I... I what?" Stan sounded indignant.

"All I needed was some confirmation." Perkins explained, "People saw you leaving the building, and shortly after this man's body was found. So you must understand..."

"Er... sure, if you say so." Stan didn't appear to care for one bit.

"Just answer me one question." Perkins added, "Who were you talking to?"

Stan raised his head, almost wide awake: "I'm sorry?"

"I saw you talking to someone." Perkins made himself more clear, "Who was it?"

Stan, again, seemed puzzled to say anything, but Frost helped him out: "Come on. Give him a break."

Perkins shrugged: "Alright. But you'd better cooperate a bit better next time I see you."

Stan raised his shoulders: "I'll do whatever I must to help."

As he turned away, Perkins shouted at him: "Don't let the bedbugs bite!"

Stan decided to ignore this childish remark of his and returned to his room.


	4. Chapter 4

When Stan finally fell asleep, he didn't look like he could sleep at all. His eyes were moving rapidly behind his lids, and his breathing became heavy, upon which he woke up. He rubbed his eyes, then looked at his clock. He sighed when he realized he'll never get any sleep if he wakes up at that hour. Suddenly, Brigitte came into his bedroom.

"Er... Stan, there's someone here to see you." she said.

Stan looked surprised: "Who?"

"Well..." she started, but the one who came entered without another word, even without any regard for Brigitte. This someone was a girl with raven-black hair, a few inches smaller than Stan, skinny body but chubbier face, and light blue eyes. This wasn't anyone Stan didn't know, though.

"Katie?" Stan sounded surprised, "What are you doing here?"

The girl, Katie, smiled: "I heard you came back early, so I thought I had to see you."

"I... see." Stan replied, somewhat unsure.

"You're not happy to see me?" she asked.

"Oh yes, I am!" Stan exclaimed, "I er... I just..."

Katie then looked at the door, where Brigitte was still standing. The latter then left, closing the door behind her, at which point Katie started to rub Stan's arm, saying: "I think I know a way to tire you out."

Saying this, Stan looked at her, having some expectations. She lowered herself closer to him, as she opened up her shirt. She pressed her lips against his, which seemed to help him relax more, while she started to lay on top of him, and he did nothing to stop her. At that point, she raised a hand of his, which Stan saw. But it didn't appear like any other hand, as it was bigger than any human hand would be. The hand had also become more hairy, and her nails have become sharper. This was a sight which Stan has seen before, though not with her. This got him to the following conclusion.

"You... you're a werewolf?" he asked.

Katie smirked, after which she slashed his face, then his chest, then his throat... the strangest part of this was that the slashing sound it made sounded like it held some kind of pattern: "Slasssshhhh... slasssshhhh... slasssshhhh..."

It took a while for Stan to realize that the sound he heard wasn't at all of someone slashing him. In fact, none of this was really happening. Katie coming into his room, her seducing him,... it was all part of a dream of his. The slashing sound was in fact a sound that was made in the real world, which he interpreted in his dream as something else, while the sound was really his phone ringing. Somewhat relieved, he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he replied.

A worried voice spoke: "Is that you, Stan?"

The sound of that voice got him surprised: "Katie? Funny, I was just thinking of you."

"Really?" she replied, "How does your friend feel about you thinking of other girls?"

"You mean Brigitte?" Stan replied, sounding somewhat surprised, but replied either way, "Like you just said, she's only a friend."

"Oh..." Katie seemed to sound somewhat embaressed, yet relieved at the same time, "I just thought, you two sharing one place, I mean..."

"Why do you care?" Stan asked her.

"Never mind that." she answered, "I just thought I should call you to check up. I heard you..."

"Well, I suppose I should thank you for your concern." Stan sighed, sounding clearly sarcastic.

"Do I bother you?" Katie sounded annoyed.

"Wouldn't you be if your friends keep you from your sleep?" Stan explained.

"I'm so sorry." Katie replied, embarrassed again, "I won't keep you up any longer."

She then hung up, upon which Brigitte decided to enter the room, having heard the conversation: "You were having another bad dream, weren't you?"

Stan sighed: "I just wish I could understand all this better. I mean I..."

Hearing that he didn't know what to say, or how to say it, Brigitte sat down on his bed: "Maybe you should tell someone."

"I'm telling you." Stan reminded her.

"I mean tell somebody else." Brigitte rephrased herself, "Someone who may understand this better."

"That I'm having dreams in which people change into wolfs, because two of my friends were..." Stan started, "... well, you know what I mean. How is anyone supposed to believe that?"

Brigitte appeared to understand completely: "Then what else do you propose to do?"

Stan kicked back on his bed, sighing: "I don't know. I really don't."


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Stan went to class. But on his way into the room, he met with Detective Perkins, who said: "I was wondering when you were gonna show."

Stan looked at him, surprised: "Wh... what's going on?"

"I'd like you to come to the station." Perkins replied.

Stan still didn't understand, but didn't care: "I'm sorry, I'm barely keeping up with things as it is, so I really don't have time to..."

"Did you forget that somebody was murdered yesterday?" Perkins asked him.

"No." Stan answered, but wasn't given a chance to say anything else either.

"Just understand that you're insubordination only makes it worse for you." Perkins said.

"Insubordination?" Stan questioned.

"Just come along already!" Perkins made this easier, as he was about to grab hold of Stan.

"Oh come on now!" that's when Frost decided to come in between, "You still suspect him of killing that guy?"

Katie was there as well, who said: "Wasn't the guy torn apart?"

Perkins was close to speechless, but decided to say: "That's not important!"

Nobody seemed to notice, but when Katie mentioned "torn apart" it appeared to cause some kind of reaction to Stan. A man found, who was torn apart? The sound of that widened his eyes, seemingly in despair.

"Does he look like someone who could tear an entire body up?" Katie kept defending him.

"Look now, both of you..." Perkins tried to speak up.

"She's right, I've seen the body myself." Frost interrupted, "It must have been a wild animal that did this."

"Obviously, but..." Perkins persisted, "But didn't you both state that Mr. Harett over here has changed since two years ago? How he became more distant, how he's being more absent than usual..."

"I know we said that." Frost did not deny this, "But..."

"Excuse me." the professor who was supposed to teach at the time decided to meddle, "Are you guys planning to keep arguing like this? You're disturbing the students here."

Perkins sighed. He looked at Stan, then warned him: "You listen to me, if..."

"No, you listen!" Katie interrupted, "You bother him once more, and we'll be forced to take action!"

Perkins had a hard time to keep his cool, but he managed anyway. Without another word, he turned around and left.

"How did someone like that become a cop?" Frost wondered.

"You okay?" Katie only just noticed Stan's look on his face, but became really worried when Stan didn't seem to notice her talking. She called his name again, until he finally responded.

"Er... what?" Stan appeared to wake up from a trance.

"Wake up now, Stan..." Frost said, at which point Katie punched her elbow in his stomach.

When Frost gave a loud 'ouch' to that punch, Katie asked him: "You okay, you seem out of it?"

Stan looked in the direction that Perkins just went, then said: "I need to go."

As he went, he got his two friends looking aghast.

"Don't we even get a thank you?" Frost shouted after him.

Stan ignored him. There was something urgent he needed to discuss with Perkins, and wouldn't let anything stop him.

Perkins, once he left the building, called someone on his cellular phone.

"Hello? This is Detective Perkins." he said, after which he waited for the person on the other end to say something, then continued, "No, this guy has very persistent friends, they wouldn't let me anywhere near him. How about that autopsy report?"

He waited for that person to say something, at which he responded: "What do you mean, there's not a man who could have done this?"

He waited again, only to be more surprised: "No animal you know of? What did we get ourselves in to? An unknown animal attacking people, a guy who..."

That's when he froze. Something kept him from doing anything, which included holding his grip on his phone. Blood started to pour out of his mouth, while his entire body started to twitch.

At that moment, Stan just left the building as well. What he saw then was something which his mind could not process. He saw what looked like a very hairy creature, standing on it's hind legs, having punched it's right front paw into Perkins' back and holding him up, much like a ventriloquist would hold up a dummy. The creature seemed to have noticed Stan's arrival, as it turned it's head to look at him. Stan looked directly into the creature's face, which only made things more difficult for him.

"N... no..." Stan muttered, "That... that's not possible..."

The creature then dropped Perkins' body, while Stan had some difficulty to keep standing on his own two feet. It didn't take long for him to lose consciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

It took Stan another vision of people changing into wolves to get him to wake up. When he did, he found himself in a room he didn't recognize. But judging from the looks of it, and what just happened to him, for as far as he knew, he guessed he was in the nursing hall. Lucky for him, someone was sitting next to the bed he lay on.

"You're awake." Brigitte said.

Stan rubbed his eyes, then replied: "A dangerous combination, seeing what I saw and sleep deprivation."

"What did you see exactly?" Brigitte sounded concerned.

Stan froze at that question. He could tell her, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to it.

"Stan?" Brigitte got a little more concerned, "Is there something you don't wanna tell me?"

Stan shook his head: "I'm sorry, I just..."

That's when Katie and Frost decided to come into the room as well. Particularly Katie appeared relieved to see him awake. She ran to him, so fast that Brigitte only just had time to move away.

"You were lucky." Frost said, "If we didn't follow you, we wouldn't have scared that killer away and you may be sharing a room with Perkins instead."

"Oh come on!" Katie exclaimed, "Must you really bring that up?"

"I just thought he might wonder why he's still alive." Frost reasoned, "I mean, wouldn't you if you stood eye to eye with a killer, who wouldn't take advantage of you passing out?"

"Er... guys?" Stan started, "Do you mind lowering your volumes just a little?"

Frost looked a little saddened: "I'm sorry. Though, what I can't understand is... why did you follow Perkins anyway?"

"Well I..." Stan appeared to have to choose his words carefully, "In my best interests, I probably should have cooperated with the investigations, that's all."

"I see." Frost said, "Just out of curiosity, did you see the killer's face?"

Stan looked down, but didn't say anything. This got Katie a little suspicious: "Stan... did you see him?"

Upon her asking him, Stan looked in Brigitte's direction, who then urged him motioningly, so he then replied: "He? What made you think it was a 'he'?"

"A woman?" Frost replied, "I shouldn't leave my girlfriend alone with our child then."

Katie looked at Frost, somewhat indignant, then turned back to Stan: "So you saw her? What did she look like?"

This question particularly seemed to haunt Stan. The look that appeared on his face got his friends more than a little concerned. Eventually, he did say: "She looked like someone who... it couldn't be her. She can't be..."

Katie seemed to take a few steps back: "Stan, you're scaring me."

"I'm scaring you?!" Stan sounded cynical, "How am I supposed to feel, then? I just saw someone, who to my knowledge is not alive anymore, yet that didn't stop her from..."

Stan stopped mid-sentence. Katie seemed to be more than a little taken with him, as she laid her hand on his shoulder, while she rubbed his arm with her other hand. When she did that, Stan looked at Katie first, then at Brigitte, who then said: "I should leave you two alone."

She left the room, but Frost didn't seem to take the hint, at which Katie exclaimed to him: "Do you mind!?"

Finally understanding them, Frost then turned to the door too and left.

"Didn't realize you cared that much." Stan remarked.

Katie smiled: "That's because you've been spending too much time staring into nowhere to notice."

"Oh..." Stan had no reply at the ready to explain this.

"It must be tough for you, the last couple of months." Katie almost whispered, "I don't know how you keep it up."

"Keep what up?" Stan asked.

"Well, all the work you've got for school." Katie explained, "Taking your time to help your old friend, er... Brigitte, right?"

Stan looked at her surprised, at which she said: "You told me that's what you're doing. She's a troubled girl and you're helping her."

At this, Stan sighed: "If only you knew the whole truth."

Katie pressed her finger at his lips: "I don't need to know."

Not knowing what else to do, Stan nodded. That's when Katie continued: "Honestly, it didn't surprise me that you weren't here yesterday, especially since it wouldn't be the first time you..."

Katie suddenly stopped talking as well. Stan did notice she was somewhat nervous to talk to him. Hoping that he'd help her, even for just a little, he asked her: "What? Something wrong?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Katie tried to talk herself out of it, "I... well... let's just say... Ethan is having a party later this week."

"Ethan?" Stan sounded surprised, "Who's Ethan?"

Katie looked surprised: "Your friend? Ethan Frost, remember him? He helped you..."

"I'm sorry." Stan interrupted her, "I... I'm just not used to hearing his first name, and... I guess my sleeping conditions make me forget some things from time to time."

"Really?" Katie questioned.

"Yes." Stan replied, "I mean, I even forgot I wasn't supposed to know the name of Frost's kid."

This sounded weird to Katie: "What do you mean?"

"Some time ago..." Stan explained, "... I happened to have overheard Frost talking about his young-born child. But since some people already think of me as some kind of freak, I thought I should rather keep that to myself, which I forgot when Frost decided to tell me."

"Ah." Katie understood, "Don't worry, I don't think you're a freak. If I did, I wouldn't..."

Again, she didn't finish her sentence, so Stan asked: "You wouldn't... what?"

"I..." she hesitated, "I was just... hoping you and I would go to his party, together."

Though Stan too appeared nervous, he didn't hesitate to say: "Sounds good to me."

Katie smiled. This made her happier than ever. Stan did want to know: "What's the occasion anyway?"

"Well, graduation is coming soon, and Ethan's been offered a job in London."

"Really?" Stan sounded surprised.

"So this is sort of a graduation/farewell party." Katie finished.

"Well then..." Stan said, as he got up, "... I suppose we got ourselves a date."

Katie smiled even more brightly than she did before.

"It may help me get my mind off of things." Stan remarked.

"Don't worry." Katie assured him, "I'm sure it will."


	7. Chapter 7

Back in his room, Stan could discuss everything with Brigitte, without the chance of people overhearing them.

"If you're joking around..." Brigitte sounded agitated, "... it's not funny."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Stan asked, cynically.

"You don't really expect me to believe... you saw Ginger?" Brigitte asked again, "My dead sister Ginger?"

"Or someone that looked like her." Stan added, "I don't know."

As he rubbed his eyes again, Brigitte still insisted: "Is it possible you saw someone else?"

"Given some of the dreams I've had, some of the experiences I've had, with or without you,..." Stan answered, "... yes, I think it is. Don't know why I'd see Ginger, unless..."

Stan didn't finish his sentence, so Brigitte asked: "Unless what?"

Trying not to think about it, Stan shook his head, saying: "Never mind."

"This is really getting to you, isn't it?" Brigitte asked, this time sounding more concerned than ever.

"You mean all my hard work and lack of rest? Yeah, I guess so." Stan replied.

"No." Brigitte replied, "I mean, not in particular."

Stan looked at Brigitte, questioningly: "Then what DO you mean?"

"Remember what we were like when we were kids?" Brigitte asked, "Everyone hated us, because we were different. We didn't act like everyone else, we didn't want to be like anyone else. You, who shared some of those things in common with me and Ginger, you looked us up, and together we've had a summer we would never forget."

"I remember." Stan sighed.

"But that's who you were back then." Brigitte sounded more serious this time, "And now look at you. You do exactly that which people expect of you. You study, you work, you try to live a decent life, make friends with people whom you can't relay to, as you did with us."

"If I were to tell anyone the truth about my past, or yours for that matter..." Stan insisted, "... they won't be my friends anymore."

"If they wouldn't want to be your friends anymore, then they never really were friends." Brigitte replied.

Stan thought about this for a while. He then decided: "Alright. First; I'll tell Katie about all this."

"Good." Brigitte cheered.

"I'll tell her at the party." Stan said.

Brigitte didn't seem to agree: "Er... Stan, have you forgotten what happens that night?"

Stan raised his shoulders, after which Brigitte pointed to a calendar that was hung up on the wall behind him. He looked at it, then realized what Brigitte meant exactly.

"So?" Stan questionned, "It wasn't that bad last time."

Brigitte shook her head: "That time, you were..."

"Look, Brigitte." Stan interrupted her, "What we've been working on for so long will never completely work in complete isolation, or even when constantly accompanied by a friend. At time must come to do that alone."

Brigitte looked down, then realized he was right: "Still, does it have to happen so suddenly?"

"If there's one thing I've learned the past few years, it's that postponing never helped anyone." Stan replied, "Besides, even if it doesn't work, in the best case it will help my friendship with those people."

"And worse case?" Brigitte asked.

Stan appeared worried: "I'd rather think there won't be a worst case."


	8. Chapter 8

As agreed, Stan accompanied Katie to go to that party. On their way, however, Stan saw a hamburger vendor. This gave him a bit of an idea.

"Say er..." he started, "Given what they'd serve you at parties, I think we should eat something first."

Katie thought about it, as it didn't seem to make much sense, but she got the hint: "Sounds great."

Stan put his hand in his pocket. Immediately after taking it out again he put his other hand in his other pocket. Not too long after that, he searched everywhere on him, until he finally realized: "Damn! I forgot my wallet."

Katie sighed: "Another one of those things you keep forgetting?"

To this, Stan had no idea what to say. Still, Katie grinned: "It's alright. I wasn't really hungry anyway."

Stan, though a little embarrassed, stopped searching himself and carried on with Katie.

When they arrived at the party, the two of them searched for Frost. When they found him, they congratulated him for what he's achieved.

"Not even graduated yet and already gone to London." Katie said.

"How does your girlfriend feel about that?" Stan asked, sounding somewhat pessimist.

"Oh, she's taking it pretty well." Frost replied, "In fact, she's found a job for herself there too. So no problem."

"Do watch out. The English aren't really known for their great taste in food." Stan warned him.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to poison your son, would you?" Katie agreed.

Frost grinned: "I'm sure he'll be fine."

That's when he saw somebody else he hadn't seen yet, so he left the two of them.

"I never realized he had so many friends." Stan remarked.

Katie shrugged: "Does that bother you?"

Stan thought about it for one second, only to realize: "No... not at all."

Suddenly, a certain song played, which had it's effects on Katie: "Oh I love this song."

This made Stan a little nervous. His entire body trembled, after which he looked at his hands, then said: "Er... excuse me. Be right back."

"Er... sure." Katie replied, undecided.

Before she could have finished the last word, Stan was already on his way to look for the bathroom.

What neither one of them knew, was that an uninvited guest was making her way to the party as well. Some of the people who were outside the house reacted upon seeing her as follows: "Hey! You the stripper?"

Upon hearing him ask, she slashed his throat with her own nails. Others saw this, after which they tried to stop her by throwing beer bottles at her, but this only fed her rage which got her to attack anyone else as well.

Stan, while in the bathroom, had wet his face with cold water, after which he had stopped shaking. That was, until he heard a commotion from outside. But that wasn't what worried him, there was something else that bothered him as well, which got him to exclaim: "Katie!"

Katie saw how something entered the house. It had the appearance of a human female, except that it was hairy all over and much too strong to human standards. Everyone who tried to fight it either inevitably lost, or plain simply got killed trying. First thing Katie could think of when seeing this monster, was not her own well-being but somebody else's.

"Stan!" she shouted, hoping he could hear him over all the noise being made. Not much of a smart idea, as the monster suddenly had her arm wrapped around Katie's neck.

Frost, who saw this, ran to the monster, using a broom as a weapon: "Let her go!"

The broom had little to no effect. Eventually, the monster sway her arm and scratched Frost's face, so severely it would be a miracle if he survived this.

"So..." the monster hissed at Katie, "... you must be his girlfriend, aren't you? I wonder if he'll still like you once I've..."

"Leave her...!" another voice said, but the monster had already guessed where it came from and swung her arm to hit the source.

"Can't you freaks just leave me..." the monster shouted, until she saw who it was she just punched, "Oh... it's you..."

She snickered, after which she threw Katie away, completely disregarding what would happen to her if she did. Stan saw how Katie was thrown at the table, in such a way that her back hit the side of the table, hard enough for people to hear something snap.

"No!" Stan shouted.

The monster, again, snickered, which got Stan only to look at her more angry. Though, despite of the lights being the way they are, he could now see her face for a much longer time than before. This time there's no mistaking it.

"Ginger?" Stan then didn't know whether he should be angry with her for doing what she just did, or whether he should show how glad he is to see an old friend again. He then shook his head and said: "Leave these people alone! Your fight is with me!"

The monster, Ginger, grinned: "Is it? I didn't know that. But if you really want to... find me if you can!"

After this, she ran away, as fast as she could, which was quite fast. Stan wanted to follow her, but then remembered Katie. He ran to her, hoping she's still alive.

"Katie!" he called her name a few times, until she finally opened her eyes.

"S... Stan..." she whispered.

"You okay?" Stan asked her.

"I..." Katie hesitated to answer, "I... don't... feel any... pain. Means I'm okay, right?"

With her back being hit as hard as he saw it, Stan doubted it. He held her hand, and it grabbed hold of his. He laid his other hand on her leg, but Katie didn't appear aware of that. She didn't ask why he did that, nor did her leg react in any way to his hand. This could mean only one thing, which made Stan more sad than he already was.

"S... Stan?" Katie started, "You... know this... monster?"

Stan hesitated, but answered in the end: "I used to."

Katie did not understand: "What... do you... mean?"

Stan shook his head, after which an angry expression appeared on his face, then he said: "I've got to go now."

As he got up, Katie pulled him back: "Why? Where are you... going?"

Stan sighed, more out of grieve than anything else. That's when he took his cellular phone out of his pocket and put it in Katie's hand: "Use my phone to call for help. But please, don't mention anything about a monster yet."

"Where are you going?" Katie could not understand.

"Look..." Stan replied, "... once I'm done, I'll explain everything to you. I promise."

Katie looked at him in utter incomprehension, but she decided to let him do what he must. She nodded after which Stan gave her one fast kiss on her lips and left her.

"Wait!" she shouted at him, which got Stan to stop and turn back to her.

Katie took off something she wore around her neck, which looked like one of those good-luck charms. She wanted to put in his hands. Soon enough, she realized she couldn't even try to stand up, so she had to say to Stan: "Please, take this with you."

Stan could not understand, so Katie added: "You give me your cell-phone. It's only fair I give you something that's mine. Please!"

She nearly begged him to take this. Stan didn't believe much in charms, but he didn't want to see his girlfriend sad, so he took it. After one last look at her, he left the house.


	9. Chapter 9

In a nearby park, during the night when there's nobody around, Stan was found, along with Brigitte, searching in the parks woods. The latter seemed to smell how close they were to her exactly, which came in handy.

"I thought she'd be mad at me for leaving Baylee Downs." Stan told her, "Much like you were when you first saw me again."

"But she didn't care?" Brigitte asked.

"No." Stan answered, "Or so she said."

"When she became that werewolf, she changed." Brigitte whined, "Much like you've changed lately."

Stan sighed, but didn't say anything.

The two of them advanced. Stan looked up in the sky, where he should be seeing the night's moon, but there were too many clouds. At a certain moment, Stan stopped dead in his tracks. He looked down, where he saw something that looked like... just another spot in the park, nothing particular to pay attention to. So why would he stop? Furthermore, why did Brigitte not stop, but rather carried on with what she was doing? In doing this, she had disappeared out of his sight. Suddenly, he felt a strange air around him, which told him to duck down. In doing so, he only just managed to dodge a strong arm which was about to hit him. Once ducked down, he rolled away from whom attacked him and got up again. He didn't need to see who attacked him, for he had a pretty good idea: Ginger.

"So you found me." Ginger hissed, "How did you find me?"

"Doesn't matter." Stan replied, sounding angry, "How come you're still here?"

"Why? You want me to leave?" Ginger wondered, but then realized what he really wanted to know, "Oh! You mean why am I still alive?"

"I found an obituary years ago. It said you were dead." Stan explained himself.

"Yeah, I guess it would." Ginger said, flatly, "But look at me."

It was hard not to look at her, as nobody has ever seen a girl as hairy as she was, and without any clothes on. In different circumstances she may cause a certain reaction at all the nearby guys, but this was one of those that would cause a more frightened one. Stan, however, didn't show much of that this time.

"I'm not your normal human anymore." Ginger continued, "All that happened to me was a stab in the belly. You really thought that would kill me? Would kill me as I am now?"

"So... you never died?" Stan wondered.

"Guess not." Ginger answered, shrugging.

"But what brings you here?" Stan asked, "Why did you kill all those people?"

Ginger laughed out loud: "Come on. You can't say you wouldn't want to kill those people yourself, would you?"

Stan didn't seem to understand, so Ginger explained: "That guy in the bathroom who bugged you? That detective that wouldn't leave you alone? And those people at the party, they just annoyed me."

"That's it?" Stan could not understand, "So you now paralyzed my friend just because she annoyed you?"

"She's paralyzed?" Ginger asked, though she didn't sound like she was sorry, "I didn't mean to do that. In fact, I only needed her to get to you."

"Why? Didn't you say you had no fight with me?" Stan still didn't understand.

"Because you can help me find my sister." Ginger replied, "B, the traitor, who killed me."

Stan stood there speechless. So all this time, Ginger just wanted to find Brigitte and hoped Stan could help her with that. At that moment, Stan saw Brigitte standing behind Ginger, but doing nothing but look at the two of them, as sad as she's never been.

"Brigitte..." Stan whispered.

"Yes." Ginger said, "You were looking for her some time ago. I'll say you've found her by now. So where is she?"

Stan looked behind Ginger, where Brigitte still stood, but she still didn't do anything, nor did Ginger appear to notice her presence.

"Brigitte's dead." Stan answered.

Ginger raised her hand in a threatening way: "Don't lie to me!"

"You don't believe me?!" Stan swore, "You're standing on her grave!"

Ginger froze at that. She looked down, then decided to dig. She did find a dead body, but that one had decomposed just about enough so she could only recognize it as a girl, who's throat had apparently been slid. Though it was a dead girl, that still didn't mean it was Brigitte, but that's when she found the head of a dead bird, which was made to be an accessory to wear around the neck. It was the same type of accessory that Ginger wore herself. Once she had that dug up, Stan looked at Brigitte, as he saw her fading away.

Earlier, detective Perkins had seen Stan talk to someone, except he didn't see anyone else, as if Stan was talking to himself. He may have been the first, if not the only one, who realized that Stan was fooling himself, by somehow making Brigitte appear alive to himself.

A tear ran down his face, as well as it did with Ginger, who was a little closer to crying herself: "Why... How...? Wait a minute, I heard you talking to your friends. You told them she's still alive!"

"I know I did that!" Stan exclaimed, "I... what else was I supposed to do?!"

Stan could not help himself but to remember what had happened exactly, a little over a year ago.


	10. Chapter 10

In the preceding years, Stan and Brigitte had lived together in the one little room. Given Brigitte's emotional problems, which manifest themselves in ways no sane person would want to believe, there was no way in which she could be left alone, or for that matter in the hands of somebody else. But in time, she did make some kind of progress. She started to manage her emotions, control her anger and overcome her feelings of guilt. In Stan's mind, he had never seen her as happy as he saw her then.

Having told exactly that to Ginger, she could not believe she was hearing this: "And of course you took advantage of all that, didn't you!?"

Stan started shaking, after which he looked up in the sky. He saw the clouds moving away, slowly starting to reveal the full moon. Stan gulped, after which he asked: "Took advantage?"

"When we first met, I thought you were different." Ginger said, or rather growled, as if the appearance of the full moon had an effect on her, "But then you just disappeared, and we realized..."

"Now you just wait a minute!" Stan interrupted, shouting, "If it were up to me, I'd have never left!"

"I don't believe you!" Ginger bit back.

"That's the difference between you and your sister." Stan remarked, "Like you, she too was angry, but at least she listened to reason. That's why I could help her with her problem."

"Oh really?" Ginger still didn't believe him, "Then why did you kill her?"

"I did nothing to her!" Stan corrected her, "She did this to herself."

"Really?" Ginger sounded somewhat happy, "So she did go through with it after all."

Stan looked indignant, yet not surprised: "No wonder she had such emotional problems."

"What's that mean?!" Ginger wondered.

"By the sounds of it, you always put a lot of pressure on her." Stan explained, as he took a few steps closer, "Like you, she hated everyone around her. You, being the only one she could look up to, had the solution to channel all that hate, but then you betrayed her."

Ginger laughed: "I betrayed her?!"

"YES!!" Stan shouted even louder, as he suddenly dropped down.

This looked weird to Ginger. He's trying to make a point, shouting it out, but his heart can't take it? That's what it looked like to Ginger, as Stan seemed to try and hold on to something on his body, a normal reflex when one feels pain somewhere.

"What? Having a heart attack?" Ginger asked mockingly.

"You'd wish..." Stan said, or more accurately growled.

This was getting weirder to Ginger. Stan would not be... she thought to herself. When she stretched out her hand to touch him, he raised his head up again, showing her his eyes, which have turned yellow, as well as his teeth which have turned unnatturally large. If Ginger didn't know any better, she'd say he's starting to look just like her. But that would mean...

"You see this?" Stan asked Ginger, "This is why Brigitte killed herself."

A few years earlier, Stan had a cut in the palm of his hand, which he then comfortingly laid upon Brigitte's wounded shoulder. This way, his blood had come in contact with hers, and he's has infected himself with her virus. In the years that followed, he was able to help her perfectly well, as every time she was about to change into a wolf, he too was changing. But in doing so, he managed to find a way to keep himself from changing. This was something he tried to share with Brigitte.

"Control yourself!" he'd exclaim, "Try to ban all bad memories from your head."

"You... go ahead... and try!" Brigitte would reply.

Not knowing what else to do, Stan advised her: "Remember your time with that Ghost girl? When she kept you locked up?"

"Yes!" Brigitte growled when he reminded her of that.

"But then, when I found you and called your name, how did that make you feel?" Stan asked.

Brigitte thought back about that time. She remembered every detail of it. She jumped on him, not recognizing him, and after a long time of being locked up she didn't even remember much of herself. Until there was something about her, even in her monstrous form, which Stan recognized, so when he called her name, she remembered who she was, and after a few seconds, she remembered her old friend. For as long as that moment lasted, it was one of the happiest moments in her life. Thinking back about that, she stopped changing, and remained much of her usual self. Though this was a progress which took some time and energy, so she was too tired to realize Stan had sharper nails, yellowish eyes, but not as bad as Brigitte's own.

This way of life lasted for quite some time, until Brigitte had no trouble at all with her transformations anymore. Knowing this, she wanted to tell Stan, who could be found in his own bathroom at the time. When she found him, she saw how his own face was suddenly quite hairy, as well as his nails having turned much sharper,... a lot of things that indicated he was slowly changing into a wolf himself. Having seen this, she turned pale and ran out of the room.

Stan, having much sharper senses, was able to chase her all through the streets of Vancouver, where it was pooring rain at the time. When he found her, she already stopped running, somewhere in the middle of the woods, in a nearby park. When she sensed his presence, she turned around, crying her eyes out.

"Why did you lie to me?" Brigitte asked.

"I didn't lie to you." Stan answered, "I just didn't know what impact it would have if I already told you..."

"Save it!" Brigitte interrupted him.

"No, I won't!" Stan exclaimed, "When I infected myself with this, I was able to understand this better, and therefor able to help you better. Don't you understand?"

That's when she ran to him and attacked him. Stan did everything he could to defend himself, which worked out perfectly well. After some time, Brigitte came to a realization.

"What is it?" Stan asked her.

"I... what am I doing?" Brigitte asked herself, as she slowly sank down on her knees.

That's when Stan dared to approach her: "It's alright. You just didn't know how to react. Perhaps I should've told you..."

"No... it's not that." Brigitte started to cry, "We've worked so hard on controlling my changes, and now..."

"It's alright." Stan assured her, "In some form or other, you're not the only one to who this happens. We can start over again if you want to."

Brigitte looked at him, she nodded her head after which she got up. Being the friend he is, Stan helped her up, but as a way of thanking him, Brigitte punched her fist in his stomach. Stan fell down as a result. In his weakened state, he saw how Brigitte picked up a rock, which had a very sharp point.

"I won't be a burden to anyone anymore." she said, after which she brought the rock's sharp point closer to her throat. She then made one quick move, of which Stan wasn't sure what it was she did. But when blood started to spurt out from her throat, Stan did understand what she did. He shouted 'no', but it was too late, as Brigitte's insensate body fell down and stopped moving. Seeing this, Stan nearly burst out in anger. But just as he was about to, a hand laid itself on his shoulder. Stan turned to see to whom it belonged. And strangely enough, it belonged to Brigitte, who stood right behind him, although she was also lying in front of him, dead. Weird as this may appear, he wasn't at all surprised to see her.

"Don't do this." this Brigitte said, "You tried to help me control my emotions, yet you can't control your own?"

Though he may be taking advice from somebody of whom he knew she wasn't really there, he knew she was right. Still, his best friend just died. The only thing he could think of doing was to give her something of a burial. The rain made much of the surrounding area muddy, which made it easy for him to dig up a grave, put her in it, then throw all the mud on her.


	11. Chapter 11

It wasn't enough for Stan to just have him think that Brigitte was still with him, as her death made him more vulnerable to changing. Every time he did, he imagined it wasn't him that changed, but his imaginative version of Brigitte. In doing so, it had him think she was the one who needed his help. Also, whenever he sensed something he shouldn't be sensing, he imagined it was Brigitte, not him. So when he searched for Ginger, it was he who smelled her. It was also him who smelled blood earlier. To top it all off, when Frost spoke of his son, Stan was too far away from him to hear him, yet he did manage to hear it.

Now that Ginger heard all this, she was still undecided: "You imagined her still being here? What kind of pervert are you?"

"A man on the verge of madness." Stan replied, "I didn't do anything I hadn't done before. When I heard of your death, I imagined you were somehow still alive as well."

"What?!" Ginger couldn't believe she was hearing this.

"It was the one thing that kept me from going insane." Stan answered, "The same was with Brigitte. Was, I say, as when she did change in the end, she had no comfort in you anymore."

"And why did you stop seeing me?" Ginger asked.

"Once I realized what kind of a bitch you've become." Stan answered, "In every... sense... of the... word..."

Stan started to have more trouble speaking from then on. At some point, he just collapsed. Ginger, surprised to see him do this, approached him. That's when Stan jumped at her, growling like a wolf would. Ginger, though surprised, managed defend herself from this attack. She allowed herself to fall down, only so she could throw him over herself, after which she got up to face him.

So matched they stood, as Milton would say it. One werewolf facing another, both breathing heavily, both angry for different reasons. The one accused the other for someone's death, the other accused the one for betrayal, among other things. For the first seconds, the two didn't do anything, as they both expected the other to attack first. Eventually, they both decided to attack simultaneously. Never before in history did anyone witness such a ferocious fight. The one kept biting the other, while the other would rather have the opponent's head chopped off. It was a fight which neither one would ever forget for the rest of their lives. That is, provided either one of them will have a rest of their lives, because as it looked, the two of them were close to killing each other. Stan realized this in time, and knew that he had to do something before both of their lives end. At a point, Stan willingly let his guard down, so Ginger could scratch him. Stan managed to dodge that attack, so he could punch Ginger against her jaws. Having this done to her, Stan pushed her towards a nearby, sharp branch, which penetrated her upon impact.

Once he noticed her body stopped moving, Stan decided to walk away. Only, he made it only a few metres away, as his transformation, as well as this fight, had tired him too much, he could barely stand on his own two legs. He fell down, but still tried to crawl away. Suddenly, heard some kind of squishing sound, and a brach breaking. He could only just manage to turn around, only to see that Ginger was still alive, despite the hole she was showing in her body. Stan wanted to run away, but Ginger had sat herself on top of him, so even if he had the energy to run, he couldn't do it. Ginger, however, had just about enough energy to lift up a heavy rock. Stan realized quick enough what she wanted to do, but he was too tired to even try anything to stop her. That's when luck turned back on his side. Ginger, too, was too tired, or too wounded to do what she wanted, so she collapsed as well. But even in the end, she managed to do what she intended. When she collapsed, she had let go of the rock, which still fell on Stan's head. It fell down with a force powerful enough to break Stan's skull, killing him.

That's where the two of them lay then, both dead, and in forms neither one would like to be found, which is that of a wolf, or some form of it. And with neither one of them having any form of identification on them, there's litterally nothing to indicate either one was ever human.

**THE END**


End file.
